In conventional techniques for heat sinking solid state relays, the relay is typically mounted on a heat sink with a plurality of fins extending from the area in which the relay is mounted. However, these conventional heat sinks possess several problems which make them impractical and inefficient. Because heat sinks generally possess heat sink fins extending from the relay housing, it can be difficult to access the relay for installation, service and removal. Additionally, the heat sink fins can get clogged with dirt and lose their effectiveness. When being cleaned of this accumulated dirt, the fins can easily be bent or broken, thereby decreasing heat sink efficiency. These damaged fins can also cause injury to the servicing technician.
As typical solid state relay installations may be in a factory floor environment, these relays often need to be isolated within standard-type electrical cabinets. Because these cabinets present space restrictions, traditional heat sinks possessing fins make inefficient use of existing space due to the volume required to present sufficient fin surface area to remove unwanted heat. Thus, traditional heat sink mounted relays may take more than one mounting position on a standard relay mounting strip or may extend above or below the strip, thereby interfering with wiring harness routing and placement of adjacent relay mounting strips.